Defense Technology International - April 2008 - (Page 48) REVIEW BOOK REVIEWED BY PAT TOENSMEIER SCHMOOZING WITH TERRORISTS BY AARON KLEIN WND Books, 2007 204 pp., $25.95 Aaron Klein is a Jerusalem-based journalist with a Rolodex full of terrorist contacts. He’s also an Orthodox Jew, and an American. In reporting on stories, he calls groups like Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Islamic Jihad for their perspective. Almost all, surprisingly, agree to interviews. The book presents the harsh views of these terrorists on many topics. There’s nothing noble in what they say. They are dogmatic, dangerous men who have no qualms about advancing their goals by murder and mayhem. Klein’s subjects are unabashed in their desire to destroy Israel, though all claim they don’t hate Jews, just “Zionist occupiers.” They believe radical Islam will triumph over the non-Muslim world and Sharia law will prevail everywhere, including the U.S. Anyone who doesn’t like it, says Abu Abdullah of Hamas, can “go somewhere else and go to hell.” Klein writes that the terrorists are delusional. They see Zionist conspiracies everywhere: Israel infects watermelons with AIDS to kill Muslims; Jews secretly control Christianity; Monica Lewinsky was an Israeli agent. When it comes to bloodshed, everyone in Israel is an occupier and thus a legitimate target. Klein asks Nasser Abu Aziz of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades if he regrets the death of an American teenager in a suicide bombing that his group helped to coordinate. Aziz calls the death a “gift from Allah.” The only way to deal with people like the terrorists, Klein advises, is to defeat them. Efforts at accommodation will fail and only serve to embolden their actions. Not that there’s much chance for accommodation. The hatred that drives the terrorists is too ingrained to be reasoned—or negotiated—away. This volatile mix of emotion and religious fanaticism is potent and a source of willing recruits. Consider Ahmed, a college student from Jenin in the West Bank. He comes from a good family, attends college and plans to marry. His dreams sound like those of young men everywhere, but he may not live to fulfill them—Islamic Jihad has recruited him to be a suicide bomber. And in an interview, Ahmed assures Klein that if they meet when he’s on his deadly mission, “I will not hesitate to blow you up.” � ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE AVIATION WEEK AviationWeek.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49, 3rd Cover AVIATION WEEK Conferences & Exhibitions A&D Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 UPCOMING: IN PRINT - MAY ISSUE EVENT Prompt Global Strike, Mobile satcoms, Backpack UAVs in action Responsive Space , April 28-May 1 SOCOM , May 22-28, FL ILA Berlin, May 27-June 1 MRO 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Program Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 DTI, Defense Technology International . . . . . . 48 EUROSATORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Force Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Honeywell Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ILS, Inventory Locator Service LLC. . . . . . . . . 36 L-3 Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Meggitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2nd Cover Nexter Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Plasan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Raytheon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4th Cover Selex Galileo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26-27 Soldier Technology Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 TAG, Technology Advancement Group . . . . . . 20 Thales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 VT Miltope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ONLINE Exclusive Videos! Raytheon AESA radar, F-15 Strike Eagle and more! Click on the Video tab on the AviationWeek.com Homepage Turn to the ARES blog for daily defense technology updates: Visit: www.aviationweek.com/aw/community Check out the Ezine of this issue, along with the full DTI issue, on the DTI homepage www.aviationweek.com/dti 48 http://AviationWeek.com http://AviationWeek.com http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/community http://www.aviationweek.com/dti http://AviationWeek.com/dti
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